Volume 35, Number 2
Richardton, ND 58652
April 2007

December
Chronicle








Some of our oblates visited together after a recent meeting. Left to right: Cliff Storsved, Margaret Storsved, Dorothy Renner,
Carmy Bren, Joyce Thompson(?).


     This was a painful month for Fr. David, who had a knee replacement at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Dickinson. After about 10 days in the hospital, he returned home to the Abbey and has been recuperating ever since.

     Abbot Brian announced a personnel change on December 19: Bro. Michael will replace Fr. Thomas as Director of Development. On his recent sabbatical, Fr. Thomas realized that he can no longer do this important work in the way it should be done. Bro. Michael, of course, has no training at this work; none of us do! Perhaps, though, his training as a psychologist will be of some help?

     On December 30, Bishop Paul Zipfel came out from Bismarck to ordain Bro. Benedict Fischer to the deaconate. He is currently a third-year theology student at St. John’s School of Theology, Collegeville, MN. Bro. Benedict functioned as deacon at Mass on the next two days, preaching on the Feast of the Mother of God. Although bad weather to the east of us prevented some people from coming to the ordination, there was a nice representation from Benedict’s hometown of Bismarck, including his parents.

     Recently there came across our coffee table a deluxe volume entitled Los Atajos No Existen. Translated, this means “There are no shortcuts.” It is apparently a favorite saying of Fr. Francis Wehri, who is featured elsewhere in this issue. This book, which commemorates 45 years of history for Colegio San Carlos, our school in Colombia, is entirely the product of the alumni. To judge from its highly sophisticated layout and texts, we have some very talented graduates! The book contains some wonderful vignettes of the monks who have been key figures in that school. For example, Fr. Sebastian is quoted as saying: “Much of what I did and said, I’m afraid, was paja (baloney), but there must be some grain of truth. …“
January
Chronicle









Many hands make light work. One of the joys of monastic life is stuffing envelopes for our appeals. Fortunately, this also promotes a good deal of socializing.
 
    Bro. Nicholas has had his ups and downs these days, with some good news and some bad news. The upside is that he managed to lose 40 or 50 pounds. The downside is that this rapid weight loss has apparently upset his metabolism to the extent that he took several painful falls. Finally, he was placed in the Richardton Health Center for observation. It was found that his blood had become toxic due to the epilepsy medicine he was taking. He is now home with us, slimmer but also wiser.

     Bro. Aelred’s life has also taken an abrupt change. Recently he was offered a position as a chaplain at Home on the Range, a facility for troubled youngsters at Sentinel Butte. With Abbot Brian’s blessing, he has moved to Beach, ND, where he can commute to the Home on the Range. Beach is about 75 miles west of Richardton. He will also work for the local Catholic parish there. Bro. Aelred has no formal training for this work, but he is very interested in youth and wants to do what he can to help them.

     On a recent visit to Fr. Robert in the local nursing home, the Chronicler mentioned that he was having trouble with the zipper on his jacket. Fr. Robert, who now has trouble finding words to express himself, immediately said: “Find a stout woman!” Thinking that he was not quite clear about the problem, the visitor repeated that he simply could not figure out how to cope with the zipper, which would not go forward or backward. At this point, the exasperated Robert bellowed “Find a stout woman!” How is one to take that?

     Fr. Lawrence is having more and more difficulty getting around, due to a lame hip. Consequently on February 5 he will have a hip replacement. But before he does, he got in one last trip to California, where he officiated at the wedding of a young relative. Fr. Lawrence is retired now, but he keeps busy with chaplain work, receptionist at the Visitors Center and also with the distribution of our mail. Without him, we would be completely out of touch with our pen pals.

     The monks have decided to install a backup generator for our electrical system. Over the years, we have never had a power outage long enough to cause serious damage, but we have long felt we should prepare for that eventuality. The problem is that our particular system will require a lot of new wiring, and so the project will cost a lot of money.

     We have a couple of new faces around here this winter. Rick Wise arrived after Christmas to begin his candidacy as a monk. He is a native of Ohio who served in the Air Force and worked most recently in Alaska. Bro. Herman Kim is living with us for a year to see if he would like to transfer to our community. He is a Korean who has been living in southern California.

February
Chronicle







Fr. Terrence Kardong is caught sitting on the plaza in front of the church on a bright and sunny (highs in the 70s) Sunday afternoon. Two days later the temperatures were below freezing and eight inches of snow where of late he sat.

     Every winter, the abbots of the country have a retreat where they all get together for stimulating exchange and input. This year they met on February 2-6 at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA, right near the San Francisco airport. The reason for meeting at this large, non-Benedictine retreat center was because both the abbots and prioresses were present at this meeting. Abbot Brian represented Assumption Abbey.
     The speakers this year were Abbess Maire Hickey and Abbot Armand Veilleux. Abbess Maire is an Irishwoman, but she is head of a German convent. Her Cambridge education showed through in her profound conferences on Christian participation in Christ through baptism. Abbot Armand is a Canadian Trappist, who is now head of a Belgian abbey. He spoke on the same topic as Abbess Maire, but from his own unique perspective. He has served as a “troubleshooter” for the Trappists in places such as Rwanda and Vietnam.

     On Saturday, February 9, Bro. Placid and Bro. Jacob drove to the Schaaf ranch south of Mandan for the annual bull sale. This is a nationally famous event, with 500 stockmen bidding on a like number of purebred animals. Bro. Placid is a longtime friend of the Schaaf family, so they give the Abbey a good deal on a bull. Of course all this involves a great deal of careful calculation by all parties. As for Jacob, he says he mainly goes along to watch and learn.

     From St. Meinrad, Indiana, two of the confreres report on their adventures. Bro. Anthony joined a carload of seminarians for a trip to Washington, D.C., where there was a rally against abortion. Anthony is a pre-theology student. Fr. Damian, who is a professor in the same institution, is spending part of this semester in Rome. He was a student at the Biblicum in the 1950s, and he wanted to return after 50 years to see how things are going. Most likely they are going well, since the Biblicum is one of the top scripture faculties in the world.

     Our visitation committee is working hard in preparation for next August. On February 8, Bro. Michael chaired a community meeting where we discussed a recent survey concerning the spiritual life of the community. People were asked fairly intimate questions about their spiritual practices, and the answers seemed to be candid. Most visitations do not probe into such matters, but we want to address this most serious part of the monastic life.

Editor: Terrence Kardong, OSB
Assumption Abbey Newsletter
PO Box A, Richardton, ND 58652
www.assumptionabbey.com